Originally the title of this post was “quick filtering 3,000 posts, 3,000+ to go” but now that I’m on day three it doesn’t qualify as “quick” any more. As I write this, I am working through the last 980 posts. Most remaining are from August 1 or earlier. Strangely I feel a little like I’ve spent the whole week reading RSS.

I’ve been speaking fondly about reBlog since March. It’s a great RSS reader and tool for bloggers. It’s assisted me in pouring through well over 75,000 posts total and 500-1,000+ new posts every day. The screencast below takes through the filtering process of a couple hundred posts.

I only use about 40% of the reblog feature set regularly but I use that 40% every work day. It’s easily the best RSS reading tool I’ve tried, it’s free, and can be installed on your own server (they also have a hosted version, but I’d recommend using the one installed on your own server). You can tweak the code until your heart’s content.

On Tuesday I lamented the fact that as fast as I read and wrote about items in the reader, new items came in. This is a good problem to have, actually. Wednesday, Thursday and today have been slower post days, so I’m making more progress. I thought it might be useful for others to share how I’m filtering through the posts to mark as ‘publish.’ Below I’ve marked some key points in the screencast above so you don’t have to watch the entire 8:47.

Video Keypoints [see: how to create keypoints]
[2:39] About 10% of posts are marked ‘publish’
[3:25] Posts with images at/near the top draw more interest
[6:25] Search through items already marked ‘archive’, ‘publish’ or all
[8:10] Optional keyboard navigation

The numbers since the last time I reviewed reBlog haven’t changed, I’m still marking about 10% of the overall posts as ‘publish.’ Since this screencast ends abruptly, I’ll write about stage 2 of the process below.

Stage 2: reviewing ‘publish’
After I mark everything I’m interested in reading more as ‘publish’ then I visit those posts and pick out what I’m going to write about. I start with writing my raw, initial thoughts sometimes in the format of a Hmm Quickies like this:

- topic 1, link, notes
- topic 2
- topic 3
- etc.

When I want to review the site/service, I’ll grab a screenshot at the same time. Then I can copy/paste the notes from the post window to a brand new post. If a story really grabs me in the middle of Stage 1 filtering, I’ll open up a new post and start writing immediately. This is why Tuesday I actually went backwards reading, I was seeing so much I wanted to write about and needed to get those thoughts down. Yesterday and today, I’m seeing a little less of that happening so I’m able to get through more of the past posts.

It’s important for me to capture thoughts when the iron is hot. Ideas and thoughts can be fleeting and if there is one thing I’ve learned about the writing process it is to quickly get at least the rough idea down. You can come back later and finish the thoughts, expand, add detail and breadth, but it’s important to capture that initial aha! moment or it might be gone tomorrow.

To go along with my stop before you are done writing advice, I’m not saying to avoid recording a brief summary of your thoughts and ideas, I’m saying save writing out those thoughts/ideas in detail, taking the screenshots or finding a picture to go along with them at the end of the day so you have something to start with tomorrow.

I also maintain an ideas/thoughts post in draft mode for ideas and thoughts I’d like to expand on someday.

The importance of pictures and images
If you don’t own your own digital camera and you are a blogger, go buy one now. With the rise in video popularity, you might consider buying a video camera that doubles as a digital camera (it’s better than not having a camera at all). Pictures are an important interest grabbing and text compliment tool, so take pictures liberally of places and things. Be courteous when taking pictures of people as some will not want their pictures published on the web. Public crowd pictures are ok, but be careful about zooming in on specific people without their permission. You can always black out or blur faces.

When talking about websites and software relevant screenshots almost always add to the piece, even if it’s only a thumbnail image. If you are doing reviews and bought something, take a picture with you in it so readers can see you actually bought it. I don’t take my picture with products because I think I’m photogenic, I do it for reinforcement that I went into my own pocket to buy or rent the product. Similarly, I take screenshots and make screencasts to show where I was inside a program for reviews [see Lifehacker: are screenshots from websites legal?]

Readers know that taking pictures and screenshots takes time. Using audio and video where appropriate can add additional interest to a post but with longer videos be sure to highlight keypoints. I like video permalinks which take me directly to key points in video (as shown above) rather than forcing me to watch the whole piece. I appreciate posts that give me this extra assistance. With podcasts, bloggers need a similar bookmark function or at least detailed transcripts, something most podcasts are without.

And when taking pictures don’t be stingy. Storage space is cheap these days. You never know when you’ll write something that fits a picture or vice versa: a picture that spawns a story. Sometimes that picture needs, begs, demands a story be told and this can fuel slow writing days.

One of my newest works-in-progress is a site to help writers stave off writer’s block. I wrote a little about the project genesis last month and when I get caught up and completely back from vacation work will continue. It’s not ready for public consumption yet, not even close, but I’m excited about the framework.

It’s worrisome being stuck with a flashing cursor or blank page. By having an organized RSS reading strategy where you can read through a lot of material, that’s a good first step for keeping those pages full of text. Readers: thank you, and happy writing to fellow writers and dreamers.

• Bought a new digital camera: Kodak z760
• RSS Feed cleanup part deux, 250 feeds target
• Stuck? 49 ways to crack writer’s block
• World’s first official 007 digital camera
• 21 tips to improve blog quality
• 4 years in the making + 4th of July = happy birthday Hmm